Chickenshed's 2026 Christmas show 12 Days runs 18 November to 9 January in Southgate. Every date and time, prices from £10, and how the five rota groups work.
Chickenshed’s Christmas show for 2026 is 12 Days, running in the Rayne Theatre at Chase Side, Southgate, from Wednesday 18 November 2026 to Saturday 9 January 2027. It is on sale now, entry prices start at £10, and the show runs 120 minutes with an age guidance of 5 and over. Everything here comes from Chickenshed’s own event page, checked on 3 September 2026.
The premise, in the theatre’s words: five children are chosen for a journey through a divided world to discover the true meaning of love, and learn “that love grows when we come together”.
The thing nobody explains: rota groups
Chickenshed’s cast is close to 800 performers, and they are split across five rota groups, named Yellow, Blue, Red, Green and Purple. Only one group performs at any given show.
If you are going to see a particular child on stage, the date is not enough. You need the right rota, and the booking page has a “Show Rota Group Information” filter to narrow the list. The rota for every performance is in the table below.
Every public performance
| Date | Time | Rota | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wed 18 Nov | 7pm | Purple | £10 |
| Thu 19 Nov | 7pm | Green | £10 |
| Fri 20 Nov | 7pm | Red | £10 |
| Sat 21 Nov | 1pm | Blue | £10 |
| Sat 21 Nov | 7pm | Yellow | £10 |
| Wed 25 Nov | 7pm | Green | £16 |
| Thu 26 Nov | 7pm | Blue | £16 |
| Fri 27 Nov | 7pm | Red | £16 |
| Sat 28 Nov | 3pm | Purple | £16 |
| Sat 28 Nov | 7pm | Green | £16 |
| Sun 29 Nov | 1.30pm | Yellow | £16 |
| Sun 29 Nov | 5.30pm | Purple | £16 |
| Thu 3 Dec | 7pm | Purple | £16 |
| Fri 4 Dec | 7pm | Green | £16 |
| Sat 5 Dec | 3pm | Red | £16 |
| Sat 5 Dec | 7pm | Yellow | £16 |
| Wed 9 Dec | 7pm | Blue | £16 |
| Thu 10 Dec | 7pm | Purple | £16 |
| Fri 11 Dec | 7pm | Red | £18.50 |
| Sat 12 Dec | 3pm | Yellow | £18.50 |
| Sat 12 Dec | 7pm | Blue | £18.50 |
| Sun 13 Dec | 1.30pm | Purple | £18.50 |
| Sun 13 Dec | 5.30pm | Green | £18.50 |
| Tue 15 Dec | 7pm | Green | £16 |
| Wed 16 Dec | 7pm | Red | £16 |
| Thu 17 Dec | 7pm | Yellow | £16 |
| Fri 18 Dec | 7pm | Blue | £18.50 |
| Sat 19 Dec | 3pm | Yellow | £18.50 |
| Sat 19 Dec | 7pm | Purple | £18.50 |
| Sun 20 Dec | 1.30pm | Yellow | £18.50 |
| Sun 20 Dec | 5.30pm | Red | £18.50 |
| Mon 21 Dec | 3pm | Blue | £18.50 |
| Mon 21 Dec | 7pm | Purple | £18.50 |
| Tue 22 Dec | 3pm | Red | £18.50 |
| Tue 22 Dec | 7pm | Yellow | £18.50 |
| Wed 23 Dec | 1.30pm | Red | £18.50 |
| Wed 23 Dec | 5.30pm | Blue | £18.50 |
| Sun 27 Dec | 1.30pm | Red | £18.50 |
| Sun 27 Dec | 5.30pm | Green | £18.50 |
| Mon 28 Dec | 1.30pm | Blue | £18.50 |
| Mon 28 Dec | 5.30pm | Green | £18.50 |
| Tue 29 Dec | 1.30pm | Yellow | £18.50 |
| Tue 29 Dec | 5.30pm | Red | £18.50 |
| Wed 30 Dec | 1.30pm | Blue | £18.50 |
| Wed 30 Dec | 5.30pm | Yellow | £18.50 |
| Sat 2 Jan | 1.30pm | Green | £18.50 |
| Sat 2 Jan | 5.30pm | Blue | £18.50 |
| Tue 5 Jan | 7pm | Purple | £16 |
| Wed 6 Jan | 7pm | Purple | £16 |
| Thu 7 Jan | 7pm | Green | £16 |
| Fri 8 Jan | 7pm | Red | £18.50 |
| Sat 9 Jan | 1.30pm | Blue | £18.50 |
| Sat 9 Jan | 5.30pm | Yellow | £18.50 |
Every figure is a “from” price, meaning the cheapest seat on that date, not a flat rate. The cheapest tickets in the whole run are the five opening performances between 18 and 21 November. The most expensive band, £18.50, covers almost everything from 11 December onwards. If cost matters more than the date, the first week of the run and the first week of January are the two soft spots.
There are no performances on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day.
Access: it is built in, not bolted on
Every single performance has integrated British Sign Language. That is not a handful of signed dates, it is the whole run. Chickenshed suggests emailing bookings@chickenshed.org.uk for advice on the best seats for watching the signing.
On top of that:
- Captioned: Tue 15 Dec 7pm, Fri 18 Dec 7pm, Sun 20 Dec 1.30pm and 5.30pm, Mon 21 Dec 7pm.
- Audio described: Sun 13 Dec 1.30pm, Sat 19 Dec 3pm, Mon 21 Dec 3pm, Mon 28 Dec 5.30pm, Tue 29 Dec 5.30pm.
- Sensory sensitive: Sat 5 Dec 3pm, one performance only.
Wheelchair users and anyone booking an accessible performance get a reduced rate, normally the lowest price available for that show. Personal assistant tickets are free where the customer could not attend without that support, but the theatre is explicit that a parent accompanying a disabled child under 15 does not qualify, because all children must be accompanied by an adult anyway.
The building has level access through automatic doors straight into the cafe and bar, a lift to the first floor, and up to four wheelchair spaces in the Rayne Theatre depending on the configuration.
Children under five
The age guidance is 5+, but Chickenshed does not turn younger children away. Its advice is to consider the two hour running time, to be mindful of other people in the audience, and to book near an aisle so you can leave if you need to.
Every child over 24 months needs their own ticket. Under 24 months, no ticket, and the child sits on a lap.
If your children are younger, the theatre’s other Christmas show is the better buy. Christmas Tales, part of its Tales from the Shed strand, runs 28 November to 29 December for ages 0 to 7, lasts about an hour, and starts at £10. It is interactive, the performers and audience share the same space, and babies under one go free.
Schools
Fifteen school performances run from 24 November to 10 December: 24 Nov at 10am and 1pm, 25 to 27 Nov at 12pm, 1 and 2 Dec at 10am and 1pm, 3 and 4 Dec at 12pm, 8 Dec at 10am and 1pm, and 9 and 10 Dec at 12pm.
Schools get one free teacher ticket per ten child tickets, must book through Chickenshed’s online form rather than the box office, and can download the risk assessment from the same page. There is also an ice lolly pre-order form for the interval, which is a very Chickenshed detail.
Getting there and parking
Chickenshed is at 290 Chase Side, Southgate, London N14 4PE. Box office 020 8292 9222.
Parking is the easy part, and unusually so for London. There is limited free parking immediately outside the building, five disabled bays that can be reserved in advance through the box office, and more free parking on neighbouring streets. Borough-wide rules are on our parking page, and current closures are on our roadworks and travel page.
If you want a traditional panto instead
This is not a pantomime. There is no dame and no “he’s behind you”. The nearest traditional panto in the borough is Beauty & the Incredible Beast at Millfield Theatre in Edmonton, from 4 to 30 December, and we have the full performance list on our Enfield pantomime page.
One inconsistency to note
The show’s own blurb calls it “a 50-minute interactive theatre show” in the Christmas Tales description, while the event header for 12 Days gives a run time of 120 minutes. Those are two different shows sharing a page style, so take 120 minutes for 12 Days and about an hour for Christmas Tales.
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